330 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



(Nov. 23, 1882. 



THE ANGLER FISH. 



Olf Saturday ]««(■, wliilu i-ngaged on some stone ■work at 

 a breakwater off Tempo's Knob. 1 saw a fish tliat 

 might Mick even a memberof the famed Ichthyophagous Club 

 when it came to the table. Brother Phil, ftnd 1 were beat 



big . ill" .shore. The<la.\ was good for this, season, perfectly 

 CAloi, Willi a brighi Bun. Ad this tittle oi' Hie year the water 

 'U very clear. We were both looking over the boat's aide 

 admiring the beauties on the bottom. Suddenly Phil, cried 



0U». --A monster skate'" I looked ami rum Baptudl til n 

 was a large fish on the tioiiom which it bo resembledin color 

 and general eomformation that if was difficult to distinguish 

 it (It, flr$t. I saw that il was not a skate, lint what OUT 

 lisliernien eall a "ariosel'isli,' or "bellow sh'sb." Both I think 



are misnomers, and thai il I ler or devilfish. 



This fellow was in about live feel ol water when wo first 

 saw iiim. rie evidently had lain in the same place and po- 

 sition tin BOTO.G line, as some yerv slender anil long sea 



weeds. ■■■..■ i tanding up through the seam between one oi 

 i i toi Cl Em! and body, The bottom was ao hard and 



:l lau lie could not bin , . ; ii,;-.| In' wished to, still be 



was so hi, i ,:.;.. • ■ mad of con- 



1 , provided willt a fringe of imitation 



rotsl ii ■■■ s 1 n," i '.■ in" i i , i ■ , i i ■,"• around his body, 

 and on sueli a k-ul es In appeal ; 'i be growing from Ihe 



id ■-• oi s i ,:, : , '■■ii-, buried stone. Bui raor all tho real 



was the lure lie employed, even in our presence — he had a 

 ib , i md hail btu no hook or line.- in fuel, he had 



iul , a r hud stolen the bint from one of 



I liem. His "ui,l I,.,- :i ven inches long anil the bait about, 

 two. When " h glht "pole" wliieh ',vas baited, and also 

 happened to be Mm one siluated riearesl lbs mouth, nearly on 

 the top ol his bead, was raised up perpendicularly and then 

 ; . - • > 1 1 1 > agltatodsOS tO jivi tllOVOtl bhe .sppiara.'cc of a bit 

 of clam waving and swinging from side to side as it settled 

 to the bottom on being dropped overboard. Thishadan ex- 

 ceedingly natural look and we both admired the genius 

 i,i us" isplayed. Che Mouth of this fish was a fea- 

 ture not to be forgotten. It might have been six inches 

 wide from side to side, and was open some two inches, dis- 

 playing 'ii I "',,, of rather formidable looking teeth. 

 In other specimens ! have noticed that, (lie teeth lire not 

 very sharp or strong net. ami are easily broken off near the 

 roots. This fellow's teeth bowed ery plainly and gavehis 

 countenance a "most diaitolieal grin." as, my brother 

 said. 



■, . i -■ wi .re set on top of tin- bead about four inches 



i ■" ' , , i'iised l'|;e a load's by being 



placed in a protuberance se that Lite fish could see about 



,ii , i ,, i i , , i,,, oi ' ii ion i -tendril npwai il or 



backward wecouldnoi lind out, lb noticed i he shadow of 



our lioat. and v < I ip ,, mug vhen il covered him; then 



we saw Unit the ''poll i i " ■ 1 'i ■ ■ ■ ■ J flal on in- I t, painl 



iiu'.- toward the tail I h> i "pi ; H i pe in a line formed 



of the d'.isnl tin. .vliich tin e a, , a i I, a, 4. ami .arc about four 



U' I' third rudimentary on hm-l. ol the 



other.-. The;, ,■,-',, ; , ,i by the flexibility ol the 



skin on i in 



We wished \ el ■;, much In scehilll !i:i »' a bile, for be tidied 



With the niosr eomiiiendalile patience, but at this season 



there arc few fish cruising lies 11 



We caught I) sea SpidOl and lei il Settle down on his head. 



where it -.liiii-k jusl back of ],K "rod " jle i,, a sl ] U iye 



I n very phlegmatic temperameui. or the utmost 



,,.,,, ;,,,,,' i," lie never winked or even stirred when the 

 spider crawled along his bad, and finally down through the 

 ,',",'" In I ween one nl his thick tins, and body The tffilla 

 lion caused by tin plfli i in I did Itol disturb him in the 

 least, and a starfish dropped in front of him drew no more 

 attention than lilie Otht r. 



We let him lay fill the tide went out, so that there was 

 only two feet of water over him, then the temptation to 

 catch him was irresistible, and we got on the sen side of him 

 and with oar in hand we went for him. I gave his tail a 

 prod to wake htm. He waked and started ahead with a half 

 turn, didn't seem very vigorous, but leered horribly ai the 

 oar blade. We drove htm into shoal water, and Phil tried 

 to lift him out by the tail; 'twas a heavy lift,, and the tail 

 too slippery to hold on to. By putting an oar in his mouth 

 we got him out. On the laud* he was helpless enough, and 

 did not look near as well as while in the water. He puffed 

 out hfs head and opened his mouth, but did not show much 

 disposition to bite anything. We nofieed that his teeth 

 were very retractile like a serpent's, and were designed evi- 

 dently to hold whatever it seized in spite of its straggles to 

 escape. The mouth was cavernous in extent and' silvery 

 white withkt, and looked much cleaner inside than Ihe fish 

 did out. We saw that the opening to his throat was closed 

 very tightly, yet it possessed great ■■ ;■! 'a ;■■ ■ i-, the ffay Oi 

 .swallowing, and took in an oar handle easily, Y\ e thought 

 that when a fish approached his Iuk . tion bait that 



sudden opening of this great mouth and the consequent in- 

 flux of water "might draw in his unfortunate prey, and at 

 ", ,n ■ i : i "■ dj "a him ahead, which would add to the cer- 

 eal ■, "fits capture. 



IBs under parts wets of a pale dirty white, some, like a 

 toad's. The color of Id, back wss brown, with little yel- 

 lowish spots of ill" !"■ ,,: I i pe of rye kernels, and out, of 

 water it hud a very dirty look. His eyes were gems; the 

 pupils Were metallic, green and resembled a toad's eye in 

 looks as well as in position. We cut off his "fibbing rods," 



i" a "I them as curiosities. The bone in each was as 

 clear as glass and yery slender, taperingfrom the size of a 

 knit ting needle to a fine point; 



After examining our prize we let him go again, but, he 

 Beemedrather contused, and did not get far from shore in 

 any of his attempts to escape. Some time after I Saw him 

 beached near where we put him off. Two ladies who passed 



by looking for Shells stopped to - , , They were 



much interested in our account of his fishing, I ad a fine 

 setter i hut was with them b :c- equ Uj interested ina per- 

 sonal examination of his body, much to tit distrass of his 

 mislri •: . who feared he might be swallowed whole or 

 ii.- ,v ,n-i- 



1 ha - in thj p h fr Eoi'i tvfeen they were east on the 

 shoreol Massachusetts bay. in Truro and Provincctown, 



but never saw a live one except in ihe present instance. 

 Once while inWellfleet. mine hosl at Holbrook's told of 

 catching one which had wallowed or inul in its mouth 

 three cool . velvet, or black ducks, if thai were true, 



il il be the fate of many an innoci I I n atei triti b oi 



Ii, an s1hjij.Ii! see the. seductive bail when undt ', iter 



himself aft t u? Mjsrgus. 



[Tff 



! "Angler/' or •gooselish," etc. (Lophius 

 Ichthyophagous Club has eaten them. 



They are pledged to cat everything that comes from the 

 waiter, and the constitution of 'the club requires the officers 

 to taste Of all aquatic products, under penalty of banish- 

 ment for tim president, imprisonment for the head taster. 

 and death lor the naturalist. In cases of an extreme char- 

 acter, aggravated by persistent refusal, the family of the 

 latter are dmw nci. also, while in case of a merely temporary 

 repugnance they are simply strangled.] 



WHO CAN EXPLAIN IT? 



FSBE in your issue of November 9 that "X.." writing 

 from Central Lake, Mich., "wonders if "Kingfisher 

 would put in an appearance on the 10th, prepared with 

 a dipper and desirous of laying in his winter's slock 

 of American sardines," this referring to a statement made, 

 by me in FoitF.s-r AND STREAM, date August 8, in regard to 

 the migration of certain of the herring family from Central 

 Lake to the waters above on the 10th of November of each 

 M.'ar. Friend "X." has, no doubt, learned that I was not 

 there with nvy dipper; but I have no doubt that, had I 

 been, I could have scooped out a supply, had my dipper 

 been of sufficient dimensions. He says be has "heard that 

 old hunt inc storv years ago," etc. There's where he has 

 bad the "bulge on me" all along. He has heard it so often 

 that il, may have lined on him and become a .trifle thread- 

 bare. I hadn't, heard it; if was fresh to me, and I made the 

 statement on the authority of two orthree persons at Cen- 

 tral Lake, whom 1 had, and still have, confidence m t and 1 

 put it down as given to me, having no desire or motive to 

 ■■overstate" the statement, 



As to the "quanlitudiuous quantities," to quote my friend 

 "Ihe Scribe,"' of the fish that, annually seek the higher 

 waters, mv informant, may have used a "Icelle loo much 

 line;" but were friend "X." an "honest angler," he would 

 scorn to spoil a good fish storv for the matter of a hcrriu' 

 or two. more or less, when they are so plenty. 



Taking a bird's eye view of 'his article it would appear 

 that he is a little over anxious to parade in the ranks of the 

 scientific men. as for instance, "I should have thought little 

 of the matter bad not, the writer (meaning 'Kingfisher') ex- 

 pressed a desire that the multitudinous migration of these 

 fish should be explained by scientific men.'' The fact is. 1 

 said nothing whatever about scientific men or any other 

 man. I simply asked, "Can any oneof ihe readers of Forest 

 AND Rtiieam" explain if;" (see' page 4, current vol,) and be- 

 ing a thoroughly IWlSCioutific sort of a man 1 did not care n 

 "dime" whether it was answeied by a scientist, a natural 

 ist, or a natural fool. 



As to the methods of observation of the rural distrieicr.-,. T 

 admit they arc not always of value, but I believe they arc 

 usually more < apablc of' solving a. question Of woodcraft 

 than we "city fellers" are, and that any of us- not leaving 

 out friend "X. - may I'-.in. something of the humblest of 

 them that Will be of benefit to us in some shape. 1 have 

 met some very intelligent and observaut rurals in Antrim 

 county, and other places for that matter, and I expect to 

 hud more ol: 'em, and I am going to be credulous enough to 

 take stock in a good many of their "methods of observa- 

 tion." 



When a man like Jim Wadsworth, of Central Lake, says 

 "These fish in question (be they American sardines, 'her- 

 rings.' or horse mackerel, from a scientific standpoint) make 

 their way up that river on the 10th day of November of 

 every .year," why, that is all there is of it. for i believe him 

 to be a keen and* intelligent observer, well versed in all the 

 mysteries of the woods and the waters, and also truth- 

 ful. 



If friend "X." would claim they migrate on the 9th or 

 lllh I would certainly have to ' •allow" a little on it, for if 

 his "methods of observation" are as careless us his method 

 of reading, be is not to be trusted to make a clean 



When I penned the query at the head of this article I was 

 only curious to know the" why and the wherefore of the 

 movement occurring always on the 10th of November, and 

 if the range of the fish extended below Central Lake. 

 Friend "X"has referred us to an "analogous movement" of 

 the "bluebacks" (he might, have added the "blue bellies" as 

 well) of the Eang'eley Lakes of Maine, and the meanderings 

 of a similar fish m Squam Lake, N. H., "and probably m 

 most of the other Northern lakes of any size," and he "has 

 no doubt that these 'herrings' are common to all the lakes 

 of the Intermediate chain," etc. He has examined it. and 

 made ilie whole thing as clear as mud, and has certainly 

 earned the thanks of Touest akd Stkeaji, and of 



KlNGFISHEK. 



ItaeiNN.vri, O,, Nov. 1882. 



HABITS OF COLORADO TROUT. 



VFEW weeks since I saw a statement from a correspond- 

 ent at Dumont, Col. , in regard to finding spawn in 

 our mountain trout at this season of the year, in which he 

 expressed surprise, and inquired if it was not, singular to find 

 our trout full of spawn, etc , and in the same paragraph you 

 invite communications on the subject. 



1 have made the habits of onr mountain brook trout a 

 study for the last seven years, and have hatched them arti- 

 ficially for four years. We have two species. One is called 

 (local names) the brook trout and the other lake trout, or 

 salmon trout, the latter being found in lakes and streams 

 running out of or into lakes. The lake trout has reddish 

 flesh, while the brook fish has white flesh. Sometimes alish 

 will be caught in lake or stream which seems to lie a, cross 

 between the two. At the north inlet of Grand Lake, on the 

 Grand Kiver, I have taken both species at one cast. 1 found 

 the red-fleshed fish in Tipper Chicago Lake. 400 feet above 

 timber line— sav, 11,000 feet above sea level. In the lake, 

 400 or 500 feet below this, f found both white and rfid-lieshed 

 lish. The fall between the two lakes is so steep that trout 

 cannot pass up from below, nor can those above go down 

 alive; at least 1 do not think it is possible. The outlet from 

 the lower lake is navigable for trout for fifteen miles to Idaho 

 Springs, whete its waters join Clear Creek. I have not ob- 



i-ved uiiv difference in the spawning habits of these two 

 fish. Both spawn in the spring and summer. 



Astoanv of our native trout being full of spawn in October, 

 I must say I consider it tin optical delusion in the observer. 

 Tin ii sh lie sawwas onlyabout one-third full. The spawn or 

 t igg of ihe Rocky Mountain trout when mat lire, varies from -ft 

 "■ | , ol an inch in diameter, depending upon the size and age 

 of the lish, and in number will average 700 to an eight-ounce 

 lish, aud 1 have taken 300 from a three-ounce fish. At this 

 time the eggs in our native trout are about the size of the 

 heads of pins, and none of them can be expressed and vivi- 

 fied before the first of May, My ponds were situated in a 



warm locality, at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, and the ice 

 disappeared early in March or late in February, but 1 never 

 have succeeded "in obtaining any eggs before the first week 

 in May, and then only from* my older and larger fish. The 

 majority spawn along the first of -Tune, and I have taken 

 eggs as late as July 5, The temperature of the water in the 

 ponds from May 1 to Julv 15 ranevu from 40 deg. Fahr. to 

 70 deg,, being warmest at one o'clock F. M. The wild trout 

 in the stream commenced tunning up stream in April, aud f 

 believe they spawn higher up mostly in May and June. I 

 have captured female, trout as late as July 15 with a few 

 mature eggs in them, but the fish never had a healthful ap- 

 pearance* 



The largest trout I ever caught here weighed two.and a 

 half pounds, but, 1 fed one in my ponds on beef and mush 

 until "he" weighed five pounds. 



The Eastern i>rook irout, SuheWnits fmUjudis. does exceed- 

 ingly well in our mountain streams, growing more rapidly 

 than ihe native trout, InMarch, (SSO, 1 hatched 500, anil 

 in November of the same year some of them were six inches 

 long, and now thee range from nine to thirteen inches in 

 length. Tho colors are very brilHam and 

 the fish being, if possib 



ict Is. 



:• be 



I tha 



ing in the fall, as il, does in the Fa.-t. at least all that I have 



jbscrved, At Oreen kake. i h ar i 'n si, niv, they spawn 



n October, and at my place- ! found them spawning Octo- 

 ber 86 this year; it t& possible that, tin ii, tnaj become a 

 Spring spawncr sometime. - the water in our mountain 

 'trcams is lowest in the fall, and frequently freezes solid on 

 be rilllcs in December. 

 Ai indicating lie rapid growth of SWee&ViiM ,",,,/,,,,,,'. 



n our climate, I may stale I hat, \V. Li. Sisiy, Esq, our 



sititc fish Commissioner, reports thai somt hatched last 



Golden. Colo., Nov. 13. 



ECHOES OF THE TOURNAMENT. 



JUST before the tournament, when the contestants were 

 preparing for the contest by daily practice, it was the 

 custom of Mr. Hurry Friehard to go to Hie ship yard of 

 James F. Leary, foot of North Sixth street, Willianisburg. 

 and indulge in' a little practice. The waters here, are foul 

 with all kinds of refuse, and a scum of petroleum adds 

 beauty to the surface by its prismatic reflections. A fish 

 straying into these waters would probably diefrom asphyxia 

 as S0OH as a man would if shut up in a Third avenue street 

 ear, and the group of laborers looked with surprise at the 

 (irsl appearance of Mr. Friehard with rod and line. Some 

 of these men had been familiar with salmon fishing in the 

 Emerald Isle. and. leaning on their spades, they' opened 

 their eyes in wonder at what Ibcy Ihoiiahl, to be a mild form 

 of lunatic. After a few easts, one of them approst lied the 

 spot where Friehard slond, and asked, "An'what'll ye lie 

 catc.hiu here, now?'' 



"Oh, maybe a Irout or two," answered Pilchard. 

 B'ys," said the man. "it's t routs he's after in the stinkin' 

 water; hould yer whist till yes sec him book one; it's more 

 likely a dead rat he'll get. Sure, he's daft intirely." 



The casting went on for half an hour or so. the men fur- 

 livclv watchiug ; t while SI their work, until finally the line 

 was reeled ii) and the angler departed. 



The next day, at the -sine hour, he appeared again. 



"Howlv Moses I herein i- ajiti! Did ye get e'er a trout 

 yesterday'-''' 



"I saw a few leap, and 1 thought I'd come back and try 

 Jo get some of them to-day." 



So the practice went on until the men found out what 

 the object of tid- i a „.i ,- ■- !,, leading of the tournament 

 in the daily papers. They then organized a match among 

 themselves! ami cast with a rope weighing thirteen pounds^ 

 no rod nor attached weight, line lobe retrieved after even- 

 cast, andPrichurd's rolling cast barred. The sho:t.s i sal 

 was to drive the blind horse, while the others had choice of 

 horses when teaming was to be done. 



The following is the score : 



Entries. Peel east. KiKnos. Feet cast. 



Mr. John Donnelly -to Mr, Dan. Kogan ....M 



Mr. Mike MeNamiira oi Mr. Monroe 32 



Mr. Conn. Sullivan 30 Mr. c i.anuer 33 



Jlr.BillCoIe 30 Mr. John Kerwin 34 



Mr.Pete Eafferty 88 Tin L iter as 



Mr. Pete Kennedy 37 



This settled the blind horse, question, but the loser, the un- 

 known man who prefers to be known as "The Lobster," saw 

 his way clear to get out of losing in the next corue-i by hav- 

 ing points for delicacy and accuracy, and with these added, 

 and a friendly judge to look with favor on his casts for these 

 points, he now gets off from paying for the beer, which is 

 daily cast for, although hi? distance is always short. 



It having been claimed that in retrieving a line some ad- 

 vantage could be taken by using an automatic reel in re- 

 covering line that the judges could not see, Mr. Reuben 

 Wood wishes to say that be will give $10 to any one who 

 will show him how it can be done. 



LONG ISLAND FISHING NOTES. 



THE fishing here in Peconie Bay has not been good this 

 season, that is for bluefish, weakfish, sea bass, black- 

 fish andporgies. A few years since they were innumerable 

 here: but the bunker steamers and yachts have scared off or 

 killed off their natural food the bunker, and so diminished 

 the sport; and the numerous fykes, pounds and set nets 

 have, so caught them up that the sport for the hand-line 

 committee has been much injured. But the real place for 

 fishing in this region is in the Sound, and here the fish 

 above named are as plenty as ever, and it, is easy to catch a 

 half bushel of them at any time when the water is smooth 

 enough to allow the launching of a flat-bottomed boat. 



Tsaac McLeij.an. 

 (jreenpoet, l. i., nov. 20. 



Large Bass in the Susqcehakna. — Meshoppen, "Wyom- 

 ing County. Pa. — On the 10th day of November Itook, with 



nth black bass weighing 

 and five pounds 



a small trout, rod, four 

 seventeen pounds. The two lar 



two ounces. 1 took from the same strt tm on tne ittn, one 

 yellow bass, sometimes called the Otsogo ghing 



eleven pounds and one ounce, on a small iioui rc-dj id B 

 No. 3 N. Y. trout, hook. I caught, another day. live bas.s, 

 weighing fifteen pounds, i have taken in all this fall about 

 one hundred large fish. Bass are plentiful in the Susque- 

 hanna.— S. A. S. 



